


Emotional Impact

by awhitehead17



Series: TimKon Week 2020 [5]
Category: Robin (Comics), Superboy (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Arguments, Batfam bingo 2019, Big Brother Dick Grayson, Comfort, Communication, Day Five, Emotional tim, Fluff, Gulity Kon, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Kon just worries for Tim, M/M, TimKon Week, feelings are all over the place, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:47:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24186865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awhitehead17/pseuds/awhitehead17
Summary: After getting in an argument about his reckless behaviour, Tim and Kon take a small break from one another to calm down. In that time, while feeling hurt and emotional, Dick offers Tim some advice and helps him to cope.A few days later Tim finds himself stood nervously outside Kon's door, unsure on how the conversation they very much need to have will turn out.
Relationships: Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent
Series: TimKon Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1739500
Comments: 2
Kudos: 72
Collections: TimKon Week





	Emotional Impact

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, so this is done for day five of TimKon Week 2020. The prompts were Hurt/Comfort or Soulmate AU. 
> 
> This is also my prompt fill for 'Don't You Dare Pity Me' on my Batfam bingo 2019 card. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy! :D

Kon was on him the moment they touch back down in at the Tower.

“What the hell were you thinking Tim!” The meta shouts at him. “You were supposed stay here at the Tower! Not be in the field where you could hurt yourself even further!”

Tim frowns and tries to come up with an answer. He was surprised at Kon’s anger, while he really shouldn’t have been because he had been stupid, it makes him recoil a bit. It feels like he’s at school getting scolded by the teacher for not listening.

Besides Kon’s anger aimed at him, the throbbing in his side and ankle was making it hard to think. He’s pretty sure the stab wound he received last week has reopened again and he’s probably sprained his ankle yet again. The ache throughout his body was telling him that he’s going to be pretty bruised and sore for the next couple of days too.

The Titan’s had been called out to help with robots that were attacking the city nearby. Since Tim was still recovering from injuries he had been ordered to stay at the Tower where it was safe and to work the comms.

While watching the screen Tim knew he just couldn’t sit back and not do anything. At one point they started to get swamped and he knew he could help them. Abandoning his position, he geared up and left the Tower to help out his team in the field.

It had been going well until it didn’t. A sloppy move on his part, because of his previous injuries, ended up with him getting his ass beaten and saved by Kon. His boyfriend had clearly been fuming to find out that he was in the field but furthermore that he injured himself further.

To Tim’s surprise he’s been quiet until now. They had finished all the fighting, won the battle and came back to the Tower.

“-ening to me!”

Tim blinks as his brain comes back into focus. Kon was stood in front of him with his fists clenched at his side, face screwed up in anger and was glaring at him expectantly. Tim swallows when he realises he had completely blanked Kon out.

“Kon I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t sit back.” Tim says frowning. He didn’t like to see Kon so angry, especially when it was aimed at him. While normally Tim would be pissed at the way he was being treated, he currently didn’t have the energy inside of him to argue back.

“’Couldn’t sit back,’ so what’s that, just an excuse to go and get yourself injured even more! There was a reason you were supposed to stay in the tower Tim!”

“I’m more use to you guys out the field than behind a goddamn screen! I helped didn’t I? If it wasn’t for me the robots would have been storming the city much longer than they already had been and more people could have died!” He couldn’t help but try to defend his actions.

“At the risk of your own life? God Tim, use that giant ass brain of yours sometimes would you. We would have gotten it sorted out eventually.”

“You guys needed an extra pair of hands!”

“But not yours! You’re injured Tim, you shouldn’t have gone out in the first place and now you’re injured even more.”

Tim blinks, feeling a stinging sensation appear in his eyes and fights back the tears. He wasn’t going to cry, not now and not certainly in front of Kon like this.

He opens his mouth with the automatic response of denying it when Kon cuts him off before he could speak. “Don’t fucking lie to me Tim. I can fucking _see_ the injuries, x-ray vision remember.”

It goes silent between the two of them and Tim suddenly becomes aware of the others in the room. He glances away from Kon to find Cassie and Bart standing to the side, both of them tense as they watch Tim and Kon. They’re probably getting ready to pull them apart if needed, it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve argued and then gotten into a physical brawl with one another.

Cyborg was on the other side of the room speaking to someone quietly, he kept glancing their way with a concerned expression. Gar was watching them with a frown.

“Kon please,” he says eventually, turning back to his still fuming boyfriend in front of him, “let’s-”

Whatever he was going to say gets cut off by the half Kryptonian, “No. Let’s _not_ do anything Tim. I am fed up of constantly worrying about you! You don’t care about anything, you make it seem like you do but you really don’t. If you cared you would look after yourself properly. If you cared you wouldn’t make yourself a liability in the field. You’re so fucking selfish that you don’t even see what your actions do to those around you. I’ve had enough.”

Tim feels like he’s been punched and left winded. All of the air has gone from his lungs as he stares at Kon with wide eyes and a shocked expression. That _hurt._ A lot. It stung him to the core.

He doesn’t know what’s showing on his face but seconds later Kon’s expression flicks from anger to guilt.

“Tim, I didn’t, god…” Kon runs a hand over his head and shakes it as he clenches his eyes shut. His voice no longer has that bite to it, it’s levelled out to an almost whisper. Moments later he’s opening them and looking at him, “This is so fucked up. I’m sorry.”

Before he could say anything Kon was rushing out of the room they were in, not at all looking back and letting the door slam behind him.

Tim has no idea how long he stares at the spot Kon had just vacated. The words his _boyfriend_ had just said repeating in his mind. He could feel the tears in his eyes, the way they threatened to fall, he could feel the way his body was throbbing from all of the injures he’s got, the way a sob was caught in his throat, but yet he still didn’t move.

A hand gently landing on his shoulder breaks him out of the daze he’d fallen into.

“Tim? You okay, want to talk about it?” Cassie asks softly stepping into his vision.

Tim swallows the lump that’s formed in his throat and looks at her, “No it’s fine. I’m fine.” He says stiffly. He brushes her hand off of his shoulder.

“Tim-”

“Don’t.” He cuts her off. “Don’t you dare pity me. He’s not wrong and I deserved that.”

Not waiting for her response, Tim instantly leaves the room. He doesn’t need to see everyone’s sympathetic glances or concerned looks. He leaves the room before his team see him fall apart.

He scrambles into his bedroom, ripping the door open and slamming it shut again. Once he’s in there, safe from the outside world, the tears finally come and he doesn’t stop them. A sob breaks out from him and in anger he rips his gauntlets off and lobs them across the room before angrily swiping his eyes.

Kon’s words where playing through his mind and he can’t help but cry harder when they repeat themselves. Is that what Kon really thought of him? Why did the meta wait until now to say it to his face? How long had Kon been thinking those thoughts? Did everyone else think the same?

At some point Tim had made it into his bathroom because the next thing he realises he’s seeing through his blurry vision was his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were glassy with tears, his cheeks were wet, he was red faced, sweaty and slightly dirty from the fight earlier.

As he looks at himself all he could feel was anger and hate. This is what Kon called selfish, someone who didn’t care, someone who was a liability.

In a moment of undignified rage, Tim smashes the mirror with his fist. From the centre it shatters outwards creating a spiderweb like pattern across it, his reflection now broken up into hundreds of sections.

He leans heavily on the sink and takes several deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. He eventually manages to get himself to a state where he’s no longer crying and able to keep him temper under control, it was at that point he just sinks down to the floor, unable to hold himself up any longer.

His body was still trembling, it was aching and throbbing all over and he simply didn’t have the energy to get up and move to deal with his injuries or even change out of his suit.

Tim doesn’t know how long he spends sat down on the floor, staring blankly at the wall in front of him, but the next thing he knows is that there’s a knock coming from the door and a figure appearing in the door way.

“Timmy? You in here kiddo?”

Tim snaps his gaze up just in time to see Dick looking into the bathroom. When they make eye contact Tim could feel his emotions building back up.

Dick glances around the bathroom, his gaze hovers at the broken mirror, before he steps quietly into the room and crouches down in front of him, giving Tim a soft look.

“Hey Timbit, heard you got pretty roughed up.” He says almost causally, Tim could see Dick eyes scanning over him, taking in his dirty form. “Want me to help you patch up?”

Tim swallows and feels tears pricking at his eyes once again. He mutely shakes his head, looking away from Dick as he wipes his eyes. That doesn’t seem to deter Dick though. His brother simply holds a hand out to him.

“Come on Tim, it can’t be comfortable sat like that.”

Tim stares at the hand for a moment, deciding whether to take it or not and why Dick was there in his bathroom to begin with. He hadn’t even been at the Tower when everything started. He swallows thickly again and eventually reaches out to grasp his brother’s hand.

Dick was careful when pulling Tim up to his feet, he even catches him when Tim stumbles at first and wraps him up in a hug. Tim doesn’t fight the physical affection, instead he embraces it, finding it grounding as he could feel tears starting to fall once again. Dick says nothing as he cradles him to his chest, holding him as he sobs.

Once he’s calmed down, Tim feels spent. He takes a few shaky breaths and pushes away from Dick to wipe his eyes with his hand. Tim refuses to look at him however, feeling a mix of shame and embarrassment at his emotional break down.

Dick doesn’t pay him much attention however, his brother wordlessly guides him out of the bathroom into his bedroom and pushes him to sit on his bed. Tim sits down in confusion, now watching as his brother grabs his first aid and starts treating his neglected wounds.

Deciding it was better to not say anything, Tim sits there quietly and allows Dick to take care of him, responding to the soft commands as Dick gives them until he’s relatively clean and bandaged up. Once finished Dick sits down on the mattress next to him and takes Tim’s hand in his own. Tim sniffs and looks at the comparison in size of the limbs. It was almost comical how small his were to his brother’s.

“Heard you and Kon got in a fight today over what happened. Want to talk about it?”

Tim takes a moment to answer, mentally making sure he could answer without breaking down for a third time that day. He swallows and nods, “Kind of. More like Kon shouted at me and ran away, I think we’re finished.” He really fucking hopes not, but after everything Kon had said, how could he think differently?

Next to him Dick hums, “Maybe. Have you spoken to him since then?” 

Tim shakes his head, “No, he seemed… distraught and I was too upset. How’d you know about it anyway?”

“Cyborg told me you might want some company and maybe some advice.”

So that’s who he was talking to. “What do I do Dick?” He asks weakly, almost brokenly. “He said some really hurtful things but why? Why did he say those things?”

The hand around his gives it a squeeze. “As cliché as it is Tim, you’re just going to need to talk to him. I’d give it a day or two, just so everything calms down and then approach him, most definitely face to face and not over text. As for why he said those things I don’t know. I have my guesses of course but only Kon could tell you the real reasons.”

Tim digests that information, it made sense of course but he didn’t know how to feel about it.

“I’ll think about it.” He says in the end. They both know that he’ll end up doing exactly what Dick says and thankfully his brother doesn’t say any more on the subject. He squeezes Tim’s hand one more time and stands up, looking at him.

“Wanna watch a film?”

Tim can’t help the small smile that makes its way on his face at that. Maybe things will be alright after all. He’ll have to see in a few days when he eventually sees Kon.

* * *

He spends a long time looking at the door in front of him. Probably too long to be considered normal by this point. No matter how many times he raises his fist to knock against the wood he just couldn’t make himself do it.

Kon was on the other side of that door, in his room doing who knows what. It had been three days since he last saw his ‘boyfriend’, it’s been three days since they even spoke. As painful as it was, Tim listened to Dick and stayed away, letting everything calm down before attempting to engage with Kon again.

Tim has no idea on how this will turn out. He knows for sure there will be arguing, shouting and maybe even a couple tears but the overall outcome he has no idea.

He continues to stare at the door, trying to decide whether it was really worth knocking. Perhaps he could just prevent all of the pain if he simply does not knock. Wouldn’t that be easier? The logic part of his brain opposes that idea, telling him that he would just be delaying the inevitable if he avoids it now.

However the choice is taken away from him when the door swings open and reveals Kon standing there with a small amused smile on his face, “I could hear you thinking through the door.” He says. “That and I could hear your heart beat.”

Right his heart, that’s currently beating at a hundred miles an hour in his chest at that moment. He looks away from Kon and glances at the floor, “I think we need to talk. May I come in?”

Hearing Kon sigh gets him to look up, any amusement on his face has now been replaced with a frown. The meta steps aside and Tim goes through the door. As he walks into the meta’s bedroom he takes note of the messy, unmade bed, the paper stacked desk and how clothes were all over the floor. It’s not unsurprising considering it’s Kon.

Kon shuts the door and turns to face him. Tim doesn’t look up at him, he frowns down at the floor trying to work out how to begin the conversation they really need to have. He had gone over it a thousand times in his head but now that he was actually in front of Kon, he couldn’t think of a single thing.

Tim could feel the meta staring at him and he wishes he had his cape on, so he could wrap it around himself and feel less secure about everything. He wasn’t wearing it because he was in civvies, this was a conversation that Tim Drake needed to have with Conner Kent really, not Robin to Superboy.

The two of them stand there in an awkward and tense silence for a long time. Tim feels awful because it shouldn’t be like this between them. Why was it like this? It was wrong.

In the end Kon makes the first move he sighs and walks over to the bed, he pushes the covers away and sits down with his back against the head board, he closes his eyes and tilts his head back.

“I love you. You know that right?” Tim blurts out without meaning to. He glances at Kon to find the meta opening his eyes and looking straight at him. “You mean everything to me and I just…” he ends up trailing off unable to finish the sentence.

“I love you too and that’s why I just get so frustrated Tim.” Kon says. “I know I was way, _way_ out of line with what I said, I was just angry and couldn’t control what I was saying.”

“But you did say it. You said those things Kon and they _hurt_. Is that what you really think of me Kon? Selfish? A liability? That I don’t care about anything? If that’s how you feel why bother dating me? Why bother being my best friend, my team mate, someone who’s supposed to have my back no matter what. I don’t understand Conner.”

Tim watches as Kon grits his teeth and clenches his hands. His heart was pounding away inside of his chest and a million different emotions were turning around like waves as he waits for an answer. Its been bothering him for the last few days.

A few moments go by and Kon doesn’t say anything. His silence simply adds to the weight of the hurt he was already feeling and he doesn’t know how much more he could take before he collapses from it.

Tim crosses his arms over his chest and frowns, “Kon, look, if this is you breaking up with me just tell me already. It’ll save us hurting even more than we already are.”

That seems to gets his attention. From where he was on the bed, Kon shoots upright and scrambles off the bed to stand in front of Tim. “What! No! No, no, no. That is the last thing I want Tim, please believe me.”

Taking a step back from the suddenly frantic meta, Tim eyes him up wearily, unsure on what to say, or do, or even feel.

Observing his reactions, Kon back peddles and visibly deflates a little, “unless that’s what you want? Then sure, I understand, especially after what I said to you…”

Tim’s instantly shaking his head, “No, that's what I don’t want. That’s the impression I got from the other day Kon.”

There’s another pause between them and in that time Kon’s expression becomes one of guilt.

The half Kryptonian takes a step forward and slowly reaches for Tim’s hands and Tim doesn’t stop him. He allows Kon to gently grab his hands and intertwine their fingers together, his heart skips a beat at the contact and a tiny bit of hope flickers inside of him.

He doesn’t let it grow too much, just in case. Keeping his gaze on their hands he says, “You know I can’t just let go of what you said Kon. It hurt, what you told me the other day and it’s all I could think about over the last few days.”

Kon takes a long deep breath before letting it out, he squeezes Tim’s hands for comfort. “What I said the other day was crossing the line, I know. I felt terrible as soon as the words left my mouth because you didn’t deserve that.”

Kon ducks his head and tries to meet Tim’s gaze, but Tim refuses to make eye contact. he twists his head away and looks at the wall instead. The meta was persistent though, one of his hands let go of Tim’s and he raises it to cup Tim’s face and turn him around so they do make eye contact. Kon cups his cheek with his palm to keep him there.

“What I said to you, is what it just feels like sometimes. I _know_ that it’s never your intention to be selfish or not caring for yourself but sometimes I just can’t help but think like that.” His thumb strokes over Tim’s skin gently. “The other day I was just _so worried_ about you that my fear for you turned into anger and then I wrongly took it out on you. What I said was wrong and dammit Tim, I regret it so much. I’m so sorry.”

Tim swallows the lump that’s formed in his throat as Kon was speaking and he fights back the tears threatening to fall. This stupid idiot in front of him has made him into one hell of emotional machine and he hates it. He takes a deep breath and lets it out, thinking about how to respond back.

In the end he doesn’t say anything. He tugs his hands out of Kon’s hold and dives in for a hug, wrapping his arms around Kon’s waist and tucking his head under Kon’s chin before the meta could even react.

Kon stumbles at the sudden force but immediately hugs Tim back and holds him tightly, his head resting on top of Tim’s comfortably.

They stay hugging for a little while and Tim simply relishes in the fact he still gets to hold Kon like this.

“I’m still not happy with what you said Kon but I get that emotions were high that day, there was a lot of adrenaline still around and a lot of things on your mind. I want to talk about this further a little bit later on but for now I love you, I really do and I want to keep dating.”

Kon squeezes him and Tim feels a kiss be pressed against his temple. “I really thought I screwed up Tim. I’m so sorry man, please believe me that I regret deeply what I said. Thank you and I love you too.”

For the first time in a few days Tim smiles, it was small but it was there. He nestles his head further into Kon and enjoys the warmth his boyfriend was providing.

A moment later Kon was letting him go and raising his hands up so he could cup Tim’s face. Knowing what he was about to do Tim lets Kon kiss him, their lips making light contact before touching a second time a lot more deeper. After kissing for a minute or so they spilt apart and Kon smiles down at him, “So what now?”

Tim hums, “How about a movie and some snacks? We can cuddle for a bit.”

“Sounds great.” Kon agrees stroking Tim’s cheeks with his thumbs. “I love you Tim and once again I am so sorry for what I said.”

“It’s fine Kon, we’ll talk about it and all of our concerns. _Both_ of our concerns, I know I shouldn’t have been out there but I couldn’t just sit back and watch you guys fight when it looked like you were about to be swarmed. I’ll promise to work on it, we’ll talk about it.”

This time Kon hums and finally pulls away from him to walk over to the TV, “Yeah okay. Later though right? Because right now I’m thinking a little bit of cheesy horror movie will do us some good.”

Tim smiles, “yeah sure,” he makes his way over to the bed and rearranges Kon’s covers so it was more comfortable for them to settle down on.

Things weren’t perfect but they’re still going, they’ll get through this mess together just like everything else they’ve done together so far.

**Author's Note:**

> To be fair this probably could have easily crossed into three different days for TimKon week, but it gave me a chance to write some of the other prompts chosen for the week so it's not too bad. I hope this was okay for everyone and that you all enjoyed reading it!


End file.
